Abdominal Pain

What is abdominal pain?

Characterized by discomfort that occurs anywhere between the chest and pelvic area, abdominal pain covers a wide range of conditions and ailments. The organs most often associated with this type of pain are the stomach, kidneys, liver, intestines, appendix, and uterus, and ovaries in women.

What causes abdominal pain?

Abdominal pain can be dull, sharp, achy, intermittent, or chronic. While most people associate this type of pain with gastrointestinal problems, that isn’t always the case. It can develop from tissues and muscles in the abdominal wall, or stem from organs within the abdominal cavity.

Some of the most common causes of abdominal pain causes include:

• Indigestion
• Abdominal muscle injury
• Inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS)
• Crohn’s disease
• Constipation
• Kidney stones
• Menstrual cramps
• Celiac disease
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Abdominal hernia
• Ulcerative colitis
• Stomach cancer
• Ulcers
• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
• Chronic pelvic neuropathy
• Anterior cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome (ACNES)

Many conditions that cause abdominal pain are managed by a gastroenterologist. However, patients with pain caused by abdominal nerve issues, muscle problems, or cancer often respond better to interventional pain techniques when appropriate.

Which interventional techniques treat abdominal pain?

Advanced Pain Management offers the following interventional abdominal pain treatments at their office:

Sympathetic block

Sympathetic nerve blocks are often used to treat chronic pain. The team may suggest this treatment to reduce the uncomfortable side effects of conditions like pancreatitis, CRPS, pancreatic cancer, upper abdominal viscera pain, and more. 

Depending on the location of your pain, the team either injects the nerve block in the stellate ganglion near your neck, or they can inject a lumbar sympathetic block into one of the ganglion nerves toward the lower spine.

Celiac plexus block

A celiac plexus block is an injection of pain medication that helps relieve abdominal pain that hasn’t responded positively to alternative treatments. These injections are especially helpful to patients suffering from pancreatitis and certain abdominal cancers.

Transverse abdominis block

A transverse abdominis block is a peripheral nerve block that reduces pain in the anterior abdominal wall caused by nerve damage or irritation. These injections can help dramatically reduce both skin and muscle pain that stems from the abdominal wall.

Muscle block

A muscle block can help relieve abdominal pain caused by an injury to the abdominal muscles.

If chronic abdominal pain is stopping you from living a healthy, functional life, call the experts at Advanced Pain Management, or schedule an appointment online.